19. The Flawed Stuka
The Stuka dive bomber, with its inverted gull wings and nerve-wracking shriek as it dove on targets, became the blitzkrieg’s symbol, and terrified soldiers and civilians alike. The Battle of Britain exposed its vulnerability when operating beyond an umbrella of German aerial superiority. In the right conditions, though, Stukas continued to wreak havoc until war’s end. The Stuka was designed in secrecy in 1933, back when Germany still pretended to comply with the Treaty of Versailles and its prohibition of a German air force. A prototype was built in Sweden, smuggled into Germany in 1934, and test flown in 1935. The inverted wings improved the pilot’s ground visibility, and allowed a shorter and sturdier undercarriage while retaining sufficient ground clearance for the propeller. Ju 87A Stukas were tested during the Spanish Civil War. The Ju 87B version with which Germany entered WWII was typically armed with a 500 kilogram bomb.
It had wind-driven sirens known as “Jericho Trumpets” that emitted an intimidating and demoralizing wail when the plane dove. The effect was enhanced by cardboard sirens on the bombs. Bombload was increased to 1800 kg in the upgraded Ju 87D, which entered service in 1941. The Ju 87G, which became operational in 1943, carried two armor-piercing 37mm cannons in lieu of bombs. It proved especially lethal against tanks, whose thinner top armor was vulnerable to attacks from above. The Stuka’s greatest asset was its pinpoint accuracy by WWII standards – in the hands of an experienced pilot, it could destroy a zigzagging target. Germany’s most decorated serviceman of the war, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, is credited with destroying 519 tanks, over 800 vehicles, 150 artillery positions, damaging a battleship, sinking a cruiser, a destroyer, 70 other seacraft, and downing 9 airplanes, mostly while flying a Stuka.